Electrical machine.



W. A. PRICE.

ELECTRICAL MACHINE.

APPLICATION IILED JAN.31,1911.

1,089,077, Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

W. A. PRICE.

ELECTRICAL MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN.31, 19x1.

1,089,077, Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

COLUMMA PLANOGRAPI co. WASHINGTON. 04 c.

UNITED STATES PATENT WILLI AM ARTHUR PRICE, OF TEDDINGTON, ENGLAND.

ELECTRICAL MACHINE.

Application filed January 31, 1911.

motors to be accomplished in an improved manner, and in particular to enable motors of the induction type to be operated by direct current.

The usual method of driving alternating current motors from a direct current source is to employ a rotary transformer to effect the necessary conversion in the character of the current prior to its consumption by the motor. It has also been proposed to employ specially constructed commutators for effecting this conversion. The conversion in the character of the currentby means of commutating devices possesses advantages over conversion by transformers so long as sparking at the brushes of the commutator can be avoided.

One useful applicationof the invention is the driving ofthree-phase induction motors by means of a direct current supply. Assuming for example that the field windings of a squirrel cage motor to be represented by three lines radiating from a common point and at one hundred and twenty degrees apart (star connection) or to be represented by the three sides of an equilateral triangle (mesh connection), then it will be understood that a rotary field, such as is required to cause the armature or rotor to rotate, will be produced if the positive and negative poles of a direct current supply are connected to the ends of the three radial lines or the three corners of the triangle in proper sequence.

The use of condensers, including those of the electrolytic type, for reducing sparking is well known and a particular use of electrolytic condensers, namely, their employment in conjunction with inductive and non- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 3, 1914. Serial No. 605,809.

inductive shunt or auxiliary circuits, is described in my British Patent No. 14,380 of 1910. According to the present invention a commutating1 device is used to effect the converslon in t e character of the current, in combination with electrolytic condensers and inductive and non-inductive auxiliary circuits, on the principle set forth in the abovenamed British Patent. The aforesaid commutator may be a small apparatus independent of the main motor as regards its working, and the speed at which it is driven Wlll determine the speed of rotation of the motor armature. A small motor may, for instance, be employed to drive the commutator.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that a motor having no commutator or brushes and no commutating field windings can be operated by direct current, and that the speed at which its armature rotates can be controlled by controlling the speed of a small independent motor.

,-In order that the invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect the same will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 represents one arrangement of apparatus and electrical connections for deriving three-phase or plain alternating current from a direct current supply in accordance with the invention. Fig. 2 represents a modified form of the commutator shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a modified arrangement for producing plain alternating or two phase current. Fig. 4 is a modification of part of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detail hereinafter described. Fig. 6 represents connections for the series-paralleling of a. motor or motors, as hereinafter described.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the commutator comprises two broad oppositely situated conducting segments A and B of one hundred and twenty degrees in extent, and two pairs of narrow segments C C and D D respectively. The two segments A and B are connected to the positive and negative mains of a direct current supply, the segments C C are connected through an inductance C the segments 1) D through an inductance D and the segments A and C, C

and B, B and D, and D and A by the electrolytic condensers K', K K and K respectively.

E E, F F, and G G are three pairs of brushes situated at one hundred and twenty degrees apart and adapted to slide over the above mentioned conducting segments'by rotation about the common axis H. The brushes E F and G are connected through the slip rings a f and grespectively to the three ends of the star connected windings J J of a three-phase induction 'motor. The brushes E, F and G are situated in advance of the brushes E F and G and serve merely to short-circuit certain segments as will now be explained.

'ith the parts in the position shown in Fig. 1, the current is flowing from the positive main to the segment A and thence by way of the brush E, and slip ring a to the windings J J of the motor,- from which it passes by way of the slip ring f brush]? and segment B, to the negative main. -Atthis stage it will be understood-thatthe voltage of the mains is being shared-bythe condensers K, K on the one'h'andand the' condensers K K* on the other hand."""As the brushes advance in a clockwise direction the brush E eventually moves off the seg-- ment A, and thereby breaks the circuitbetween these parts. I effect this breaking of the circuitin a sparkless manner by the' principle set forth in'the prior application No. (303,799. This, is efi'ectedias follows The brush E'first bridges the contacts A and C and thereby enables the'cb'ndenserjK to discharge by waybf the;indu :t:iri efiC therefore there are two points o'r "sfegmen ts, namely A and C, connected b'y 'a condenser; K and by two shunt paths, fine path being-- inductive, namely that through the induc' tance and the othernon-inductive,namely that constituted by the brush E itselfl the brushes advance, the circuit is broken sparklessly or nearly so because the inductive circuit is opened first by the passage of the brush E oil the segmentA, 2in'd the non inductive circuit next, by the passage of the brush E oft the said segment A. While the condenser- K was being short-circuited by the brush ii, the condenser K was sustain ing the full voltage of the mains, but imme diatcly this brush passed ofi' the Segment A,- ihe condenser K was of course charged again. i

The above described series of operations occurs during the breaking of the circuit at v iasshown atj'jj to prev'entth' bridges the contacts A and'(lf Atzthis'stage whe e e require anycoininiitatofpropeij ,speedat which it' is driven at. any -inomentis determined merely by'the speed 'atiwhich the rotary brushes crate-commands driven, By reducing the speed-of these bi-ashes; the

each pair of brushes. I only remains to observe the conditions existing during the! remaking of the circuit. Consider for example the passage of the brushes G G oil the segments D D and onto the segment A. It is desired to establish connectionsparklessly between the segment A aiidf'the brush G or segment D, these latter being electrically one and the same for the time being since they are in electrical contact. The

brush G first bridges the segments D and Y and afterward the-brush G pass oil the segments D and D respectively, and as soon as the brush G'passes ofi the-segment D the condenser K becomesre-charged;

' From the foregoing description it will be understood that the continuous rotation of the brushes-will produce a rotating'rnagnetic gfield 1n the windin'gs J QV' P -Uftheinduction motor, *and that every pair or points between whicha circuit has to be broken or established-is connected by an electrolytic condenser, the breaking of the"bircuittaking, place in a non-inductive shunt circuit and the*establishm"ent taking place in" inductive'shuntjcircuit. Y

' j When the roto'r'of the induction linotor'iis running at 'or 'nearly' at" the 'speedjbf its as,

A tating field, wfliic h latter determined re of the 'C i n tQ fi a s i uo plosivesparksiirefliable'to and brush whiiet tsbriis nqisi bridging the contacts A 'aiid'C the brush'E' nductiye resils'tances "It will beo motor will correspondinglyfsloui down and the kineticenergy of the motor may be such that the motor temporarily acts regeneratively, electrical energy being returned to 'the source of the "electric currentl It will be understood 'without'fffur ther illustration or descriptionthat' if, instead of 5 voltage, which is about two hundred and forty five volts for aluminium plates in a twenty per cent. solution of Rochelle salt, a. considerable current passes through them,

which heats the condensers.

Accordingly these condensers must not be subjected continuously or frequently to a voltage exceeding two hundred and forty five volts, though no considerable rise in temperature takes place if the occurrence is not too frequent, nor continued too long. Two condensers are seen in Fig. 1 to be connected in series with one another between the positive and negative terminals on each half of the commutator, namely K K on one side, and K K on the other side. As however the brushes in succession make contact between the several pairs of segments, each condenser is momentarily short circuited, and the full voltage of the supply is thrown for an instant on the other one of the pair. The arrangement shown in Fig. 1 is therefore suitable only for voltages not exceeding two hundred and forty-five volts. A commutator constructed as shown in Fig. 2 is suitable for voltages of double that amount, as at no time are less than two condensers in series connected across the broad segments to which the supply mains are connected. Higher voltages can be provided for similarly.

To avoid the use of several electrolytic condensers of large capacity as is necessary if the remaking of the main circuit is effected in the same way as the breaking (as happens in Fig. 1 for example) I may adopt a modified procedure which I will now describe with reference to the-supply of current to the field windings of a single phase alternatin current motor. In this modified procedure I employ the usual electrolytic condenser and auxiliary inductive and non-inductive circuits for the purpose of breaking the circuit between the main current supply and the field windings, but for the remaking of this circuit I employ two or more smaller condensers and by their aid entirely disconnect the said windings from the main circuit and reconnect them, with their ends reversed, to the main circuit. I will now describe with reference to Fig. 3 one form of commutator and connections for accomplishing this result. The commuta-. tor comprises the commutator segments L, L, M, N, O, and P; QQ, and R, R are two pairs of diametrically situated brushes which bear upon the segments of the commutator and rotate about the axis S. The connections of the various segments to the posi-. tive and negative mains of a direct current supply, to the main electrolytic condenser T and smaller electrolytic condenser U, and to the inductance V, also the connections of the brushes Q and R to the ends of the motor field winding WV, will be apparent by inspection of the drawing. The winding IV is shunted by a small electrolytic condenser IV. WVith the parts in the position shown,

the winding W is being supplied with current flowing from left to right and the condenser W is charged. As thebrnshes Q, Q, proceeding in a clockwise direction, pass onto the segment M, the condenser T is first discharged through the inductance V by means of the brush Q and then short circulted through a non-inductive circuit by means of the brush Q; these operations will be understood from those already described with reference to Fig. 1. Atthemomentwhenthe brush Q, passes completely off the segment M, the condensers U and W serve to prevent sparking. When the brushes R and B have passed completely onto the segment N, the field winding W is completely disconnected from the supply. As the brushes proceed on their way, the passage of the brush Q, off the segment N and onto the segment 0 connects to the negative main the end of the field winding that was reviously connected to the positive main, an soon afterward the passage of the brushes R R off the segment P and onto the segments L L reestablishes the main circuit; this completion of the main circuit occurs sparklessly, owing to the completion takin place first through the inductance V by t e bridging action of the brush R, followed by the short circuiting of the said inductance by the bridging action of the brush R."

Since the above described re-making of the circuit has caused a current to pass through the winding'W from right to left, it will be understood that the rapid and continuous rotation of the brushes will cause an alternating current to flow in the said winding. It may be desirable toinsert an inductive'resistance w in series with the wind- The arrangement shown in Fig.3 is suitable for voltages up to two hundred and forty-five volts. If it is'desired to use double that voltagethe winding W maybe divided up into two parts each of which is shunted by an electrolytic condenser, as shown in Fig. 4; or two condensers in series may be used instead of a single condenser. Higher voltages may be provided for similarly.

From the constructional aspect, certain conditions should be observed to insure sparkless operation at the commutator. In the first place, the brushes should have a firm and constant bearing on the commutator segments. This applies especially to the moment when any one of the brushes is bridging. the insulation between two segments. To insure the necessary firmness and constancy of contact, I find it convenient to use a commutator of hollow cylindrical form and to construct the brushes of thin metal leaves mounted on an insulating disk or drum adapted to rotate within the cylinder.

The brushes are then held firmly against the commutator segments under the influence of centrifugal force. Such a construction is shown in Fig. 5 where X and Y represent two segments of cast iron and Z is a brush carried on a disk Z. A further condition to observe is due to the fact that although the action of the advanced brushes largely reduces the sparking produced by the discharge of the condensers, it may not always completely prevent its occurrence. It is therefore desirable that such sparking, if it occurs, should not be close to the points where the following brushes immediately afterward break the circuits. In Fig. 1, for example, a small spark may be produced at the point 0. where the brush Efirst bridges the segments A and C; hence .this point, 0 should not be close to the point 0" here the brush E leaves the segment A, since otherwise the small spark at 0 might cause a lar e spark at c". This precaution should be-o served wherever similar. conditions prevail. In the drawings the condition is complied with by causing the brushes E F and Gto travel over a different path from that of the brushes E F and G. Again the circuit that joins a condenser between any pair of commutator segments, should be as nearly non-inductive as possible; that is to say the magnetic field established .by the electric charges as they pass into and out of thecondenser plates-should be as small as possible.

By suitably constructin the commutator and by arranging the Win ings in mesh connectionin a special. manner it is possible to series-parallel two motors, or evento seriesparallel a single motor. I will describe one system of connections for this purpose by reference to Fig. 6. Suppose that A, B

and, C are threemotor-field windings sit-- uatecl parallel to the sides of an equilateral triangle but, unconnected with each other, and suppose a b and c are three windings situated alongside the windings A, B and C", and belonging to another motor. Letthese six windings be connected in series as shown, that is to say in the following order :A, b, C", a, B a. Let the junction of A and c and of a with C be termed m and m, respectively; the junction of a with 13 and of A" with b be termed y and g respectively; and the junction of b with C", and of c with B be termed z and 2' respectively. The field windings of the two motors may be said to be connected in series and the motors may be operated by connecting the poles of a direct current supply to the points x, y and z in proper succession by means of a distributer adapted to operate in the manner hereinbefore described. By connecting the points x and 41: together, the points 3/ and y and the points 2 and z, the motors can be said to be connected in parallel and will operate with the full voltage of the supply on each motor. These connections to the and poles of a direct current supply are made inJhe following succession of 12 periods Period. Point I. Point y. Point 2.

1 Disconnected. 2. 3. Disconnected 5 Disconn eted. 6.. 7 Disconnected. 8... 9 Disconnected. 10. 11 Disconnected. 12 13 as 1 Disconnected.

Consider any winding, for example C. The E. M. F. in C is from m to 2 during periods 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, and from 2 to :20 during periods 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, so that the E. M. F. is reversed twice in each complete series of connections, and therefore gives rise to-an'alternating current. This holds whether the windings are connected in series or in parallel, with the difference that, when they are in series, the currents in the windings a, C (in series between the points 3 and 2) are the same; when they are in parallel, the currents in the windings A", a, (in parallel between the points a: and y) are the same at each instant.

It will be understood that if the six windings above mentioned are considered as belongingto "a single motor, the above described changes in connect-ions result in the series parallel control. of-a single motor.

.The above described series-parallel control .of a motor or; motors is? particularly useful in the-workingof electric trams or trains, since it enables'motors of the induction type to beemployed with direct current, and a varietyof speeds to be easily obtained. 1 It will be observed that if the commutator, through which the source ofdirect current is connected to the motor or motors, is brought to rest so that the connections become stationary, the motor armature or armatures is or are held stationary.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In the conversion of direct current into alternating current, the combination with the leadsfrom a direct'current supply, the leads to an alternating current consumer, and an interposed commutator comprising conducting segments and brushes movable relatively thereto, of an electrolytic condenser permanently connected across commutator segments in passing from one to the other of which the brushes break the circuit between the aforesaid leads, means for breaking an inductive circuit in shunt with respect to the condenser, and means for breaking a noninductive circuit in shunt with respect to the condenser, the inductive circuit being broken before the non-inductive Circuit.

2. in the conversion of direct current into alternating current, the combination with the leads from a direct current supply, the leads to an alternating current consumer, and an interposed commutator comprising conducting segments and brushes movable relatively thereto, of an electrolytic con denser permanently connected across commutator segments in passing from one to the other of which the brushes break the circuit between the aforesaid leads, another electrolytic condenser permanently connected across commutator segments in passing from one to the other of which the brushes remake the circuit between the aforesaid leads, means for making and breaking an inductive circuit in shunt with respect to each condenser, and means for making and breaking a non-inductive circuit in shunt with respect to each condenser, the inductive circuit being broken before the non-inductive circuit is broken and made before the noninductive circuit is made.

3. In the conversion of direct current into alternating current, the combination with the leads of a direct current supply, the leads to an alternating current consumer, and an interposed commutator, comprising segments to which the leads of the direct cur rent supply are connected, segments interposed between the aforesaid segments but unconnected to any of the aforesaid leads, and brushes connected to the leads of the alternating current consumer and movable with respect to all the commutator segments, of electrolytic condensers permanently connecting the first mentioned segments with the interposed segments, means for making and breaking an inductive circuit in shunt with respect to each condenser anel means for making and breaking a non-inductive circuit in shunt with respect to each condenser the inductive circuit being broken before the non-inductive circuit is broken, and made before the non-inductive circuit is made.

4. In the conversion of direct current into alternating current, the combination with the leads of a direct current supply, the leads to an alternating circuit consumer, and an interposed commutator, comprising ments to which the leads of the direct current supply are connected, and segments in pairs interposed between the aforesaid segments but unconnected to any of the aforesaid leads of electrolytic condensers permanently connecting the first mentioned segments with one of each of the adjacent pairs of interposed segments, inductances connecting together the segments of each of the aforesaid pairs of segments, brushes connected to the leads of the alternating current consumer and movable with respect to all the aforesaid segments, the said brushes being so situated relatively to the segments that they intermittently serve as a non-inductive shunt path across the condensers, and auxiliary brushes slightly in advance of the first mentioned brushes for intermittently completing shunt paths across the condensers through the inductances.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM ARTHUR PRICE.

Witnesses WILLIAM OWEN, W. H. WAKE.

Copier of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

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